"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." --Thomas Jefferson

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Forget defense and the economy - is he a good kisser?

I know I am going to incur the wrath of women out there but here goes:

Do you remember the 2000 Democrat National Convention when Al Gore awkwardly planted a big swooning kiss on his wife while they were up on stage? Before that kiss, Gore was behind George W. Bush in the polls. After that kiss, Gore led Bush by as much as 6 percentage points and got an incredible 16 point bounce in the polls among single women. That's right, women flocked to vote for Al Gore because he kissed his wife - not because of his politics or his policy positions.

Fast forward 8 years, and you have Hillary Clinton losing to Barack Obama in the Iowa Caucus, and things are not looking good for Hillary going into the New Hampshire Primary. And then, Hillary gets glassy-eyed and chokes up during a Q&A while explaining how she keeps soldiering on in the campaign. Boom! Big bounce among female voters in New Hampshire, and Hillary pulls out a 3 point win against Obama in the primary. Until her "emotional" moment, Hillary Clinton was going to most likely lose New Hampshire.

What does this say about your average female voter in this country? It certainly doesn't paint a positive picture in the eyes of many, and sensible women voters out there have to be mortified by the illogical behavior of their sisteren. I know the fairer sex is more apt to be ruled by their emotions, but this is the future of our country and our way of life we are talking about here. I am by no means painting every woman in this country with some broad brush; not by a long shot. Some of the most dynamic and knowledgeable pundits and polemicists out there are women. My week is not complete unless I have had the chance to consider the input of Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, and Michelle Malkin. In fact, I'm a pansy compared to Ann Coulter - she has opined that women should have their suffrage revoked!

For the record, I disagree with Coulter. Women should be allowed to vote. However, that won't stop me from venting my frustration at the results of those votes, where the ability to kiss your wife, or the ability to shed a tear makes many female voters oooh and ahhh more than a candidate's dedication to, say, free-markets and limited government.

8 comments:

Is it really women who are so irrational when you consider that during the last election issues such as "He looks a bit French", or "Who would you prefer to have a beer with?" became important matters. Perhaps it is just the electorate in general that are irrational.

I find it sad that I've talked to people who have told me that they voted for someone because they "liked him more" than the other guy. I've then asked which of his policies they liked better and the reply was "I don't know anything about that stuff. He just seemed like a nicer guy than the other guy." Makes me want to smack someone *sigh*

I first heard her emotional boo hooing that day during the BBC Newshour on NPR and I thought "oh for frickin sake". To me, it seemed totally insincere. She may have thought it would make her seem less harsh, maybe a little less scarey, but it only made me roll my eyes. And as a woman, I was embarassed. Could you imagine having a president that would start crying when everyone else is being mean to her???

It was almost as pathetic as Terrell Owens' sobfest last night after the Cowboys lost. Give me a stinkin' break.

The reason you never saw a spike after the "looks French" or "I would prefer to drink with him" ideas is because they were continuous memes rather than individual events. Maybe that is the main difference between male irrationality and female irrationality. Women tend to vote irrational based on a single event, while men tend to vote irrationally based on a longer term feeling or meme

A "continuous meme"? I think the continuous meme that lost Kerry so many votes among men was that he is a back-stabbing political opportunist who would take my money that I have worked for and give it to someone else who didn't.

Too bad that Bush turned out to be not too different from Kerry in many regards.

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I am native of the mountains of northern California; 12-year veteran of the U.S. Army and California National Guard; Secondary School History teacher; Husband; Father of Two; and three-time honoree as Time Magazine's Person of the Year (2003, 2006, 2011).